Engineering Manager • Current Employee
Pros: You have the opportunity to work with some amazing people: clever, switched-on, and smart. Some great benefits and compensation are reflective of the market rate. The two-week, end-of-quarter "hive sprints" are great to build morale and work with people you wouldn't normally.
Lots of autonomy and the chance to make data-informed decisions, working in product teams to drive your own delivery (aligned with company goals).
Cons: The biggest thing here is that it's really hard to know what others are doing. Many wires get crossed, and often teams are surprised by changes that come their way. There is no consistent way of receiving updates. Some teams use email, others Slack, others only announce during an all-hands. The company feels bigger than it is because of lots of overly complex ways of communicating. A hyper-detailed approach to metrics and measurement can, at times, make you feel micromanaged. Overall, it feels very chaotic, which engineering leadership is trying to change.
Expectations during hiring are not passed to the right people, with some new starts being hired with promises made but not backed up by the hiring manager.
Performance review and promotion processes were recently revised to make things easier for direct reports, but the manager experience feels far too complex, subjective, and time-consuming.